(Alliance News) - Great Portland Estates PLC said Friday it will make a decision on a final dividend in May as it looks to prepare its portfolio for a prolonged lockdown.
The FTSE 250 property investor said all of its occupied buildings remain operational, but activity on two of its three development sites has been temporarily suspended.
In the meantime, GPE is continuing to support occupiers by agreeing on a case-by-case basis the payment of monthly rents or the deferral of payments.
In addition, the group is maintaining regular payments to suppliers to ensure their cash flow is maintained amid the challenging conditions.
In the quarter ended March, GPE collected 63% of quarterly rent due in the period, compared to over 99% in both the same quarter a year before and the last quarter of 2019.
Some 60% of outstanding rent is from tenants in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, GPE noted.
GPE secured four new lettings, generating GBP700,000 in annual rent, with 13 further lettings under offer, which total GBP9.0 million per annum of rent, including three office lettings.
Looking ahead, GPE said it is in a strong financial position, with total liquidity of GBP411 million as at March 31 comprising cash on deposit of GBP111 million and GBP300 million in credit facilities.
"However long the coronavirus lasts, with our low gearing and ample liquidity, GPE is well-positioned to weather the impact until market conditions normalise. In the meantime, unsurprisingly, we expect leasing activity to decline until the crisis passes, particularly in retail, although it is pleasing that a number of our office pre-letting negotiations are ongoing and we continue to receive new enquiries from prospective occupiers," said Chief Executive Toby Courtauld.
GPE intends to publish its annual results on May 20.
Shares in GPE were down 1.6% at 649.00 pence on Friday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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